(*Disclaimer: any testimonies given by a man with the nickname “Peaches” should be, and won’t be, taken seriously)

“It dawned on me,” Winston said. “I called him (Woodruff). I said, ‘Do you mind if you let him (Calloway) go up there, put him in a room?’ I told him (Woodruff) I wanted him (Calloway) to pray, I don’t want him (Calloway) to deal with nobody. He (Woodruff) said, ‘It’s fine, man.’ I said, ‘You come pick him up.’

“I know as soon as he stepped on the (Russellville) campus the questions would be asked, ‘Where are you going? What are you doing?’ He didn’t need that,” Winston said. “He had a peace of mind when he came back.”

Shortly after his return from Florida, Calloway informed Winston that he was going to Alabama.

Winston stated that Woodruff had known Calloway for years, and had assisted him since his freshman year of high school with his college recruitment (Alabama’s one-day investigation concluded Woodruff didn’t act as an agent in Calloway’s recruitment, but the NCAA jury might still be out on that one).

A friend of Woodruff’s by the name of John Stancil, when reached by Jeffrey Lee (yes, that one) of AuburnSports.com, gave a similar story.

“(Woodruff) told me Peaches asked him to take Brent out of town — that Brent needed to go somewhere to think about stuff,” said Stancil. “He took Brent down there (to Pensacola) and brought him back to Peaches’ house Tuesday night.”

In context, “Tuesday night” would be the night before signing day — the same time when, according to Peaches himself, Calloway informed him that he would be attending Alabama.

However, in each report, Calloway’s high school coach, Doug Goodwin, says Calloway’s decision to sign with Alabama stunk something fierce.

In the Birmingham News‘ article, Goodwin states “[Calloway is] the only player in 26 years of coaching that I didn’t fax the scholarship in for. The only player I wasn’t allowed to have contact with for four days prior to signing day. That tells me they thought I was trying to push him to Auburn. (Goodwin is a 1984 Auburn graduate.) That’s a slap in the face. That would be unprofessional on my part.”

Goodwin also states in Lee’s story that “Brent texted me back saying, ‘Coach, I gotta go (to Alabama this weekend). My daddy (Peaches) is making me go, but I’m not changing my mind. I am 100-percent sure (about signing with Auburn).'”

As you may recall, Calloways’ family was none to thrilled about Calloway’s highly public switch to Auburn on national television.

“I’m from the old school,” Peaches told The News. “When you shake a man’s hand, look him in the eye and make a commitment, you stick to that commitment. I respect him and I’m going to root for him. But I don’t think he handled it the right way.”

The right way? Something tells me that went out the window a long time ago.

Ah-ha!!!!!! Now this whole thing makes sense!!!!!! This whole thing is about a dirty coach, that’s what this is!!!!!! Oh yeah!!!!!

This kid’s family are Bama fans. He committed to Bama. But his coach, the Auburn grad was worrying him to go to Auburn. Poor child! Being set upon by some rabid Auburn coach!!! He pressured the child to flip and say he was going to Cow Town!

Peaches (how could a man named Peaches be anything but sweet?) to the RESCUE!!!! He called upon that wonderful nonbooster Woodruff, who lets poor homeless nonprospect teens live with his family to get young Calloway away from that Rabid Dog. They took him to Pensacola where he could look upon the ocean and pray for guidance. Hallelujah!

The child came back and HONORED his pledge to Bama.

No wonder those Auburn scoundrels are trying to stir up a hornets nest!!! They tried to flip a young, impressionable Alabama recruit by having an unethical coach exert inappropriate pressure on him and their little plan backfired!!! So they set their rabid dogs on Bama!! Dirty, rotten scoundrels!!!!

Bless you, Peaches, for rescuing that dear child and steering him to the safety of Coach Saban’s waiting arms!!!

You asked if that post was serious … and you think I’m suffering a mental impairment?

macbull says:Apr 12, 2011 7:36 PM

John Taylor…I have to salute you for finally mustering the courage to write on the Calloway story “I outlined” for you this morning in my 7:53am post in your thread, “Supplemental draft report debunked by Terrelle Pryor”.

The Calloway story has sources, such as John Stancil, a friend of Darren Woodruff. It was Woodruff who took recruit Brent Calloway out of state, to Florida, leaving on Sunday Jan. 30th and not returning until Tuesday evening, Feb 1, just hours before signing day.

Woodruff has tried to portray himself as just someone interested in helping Calloway but Woodruff’s friend, Stancil says Woodruff is a “big Alabama fan”.

John Taylor, you are only 24 hours behind the curve reporting on this story and you still can’t bring yourself to type the name, “Nick Saban”, even though Saban commented on the allegations publicly yesterday.

The NCAA needs to take a closer look at what went on in the recruitment of Brent Calloway.

Hopefully the media will do some investigating and fact checking so they can keep sports fans informed as to what they find.

Deb says:Apr 12, 2011 9:01 PM

@macbull …

Yeah, you’re so on top of telling John Taylor how to do his job that you don’t even know Ben Kercheval wrote this story. (Hey, Ben )

Woodruff has never denied he’s a whoppin’ big Bama fan. But he’s not a Bama booster. A booster is someone with financial ties to a university. It’s not against NCAA rules for whoppin’ big Bama fans to do favors for kids. If you were paying as much attention as you claim, you’d know Woodruff has been involved with Calloway since before the kid was a college prospect and that he also helps out other kids who aren’t prospects.

Calloway’s step-daddy Peaches (gotta love that name) is a Bama fan. Calloway committed to Bama. Peaches pitched a hissy fit at the time about Calloway going back on his word to UA. He says he asked Woodruff to take the kid to Pensacola so he could pray on the matter prior to National Signing Day. That also kept Calloway away from the influence of his Auburn-grad coach. Now that would be a no-no if Bama boosters or university officials did it. But his family and friends are free to take him to the beach. Sorry, mac …

Again, Deb, I could get around all the rules and still be clean as bishop if I got someone else to do my dirty work.

Deb says:Apr 13, 2011 5:09 PM

Yeah, edgy, you’re right.

While Nick Saban was still coaching the Miami Dolphins, he had a feeling the Alabama Trustees were going to win their battle with the Boosters about making an offer to a tough couch with a winning record and that his wife, Terry, was going to have her fill of life in South Beach and start issuing ultimatums about returning to the college culture. So he figured she wouldn’t mind taking a paycut to take the as of that time mythical offer for him to coach the Crimson Tide.

With that in mind, he began scouring the hills and vales of rural Alabama in search of a junior high kid who showed promise … and who happened to be orphaned. Then he searched out a Bama fan willing to adopt the kid. No wealthy Tuohy family for our Nick. He wanted his prospect raised by people who couldn’t contribute money to his program, so he settled on a soldier named Peaches. After putting father and adoptive son together, Nice also engineered the kid going to a high school where he’d been indoctrinated by an Auburn-grad coach.

Fast forward a few years and Nick is indeed coach of the Crimson Tide. The kid is indeed a good prospect, and Peaches has done his part by encouraging the kid to go to Bama, where he’s made a verbal commitment. But Darn that Coach! He’s persuaded the kid to uncommit. People are calling and texting the kid, right, left, and center, so Peaches calls Woodruff–who’s also been doing favors for the kid for years (covering up his nefarious purposes by helping nonprospect kids, too). Woodruff takes Calloway to the beach for a couple of days. The kid comes back and signs with BAMA!

Nick Saban’s evil plan has succeeded!!! And the only one to uncover it is Auburn’s Rivals.com writer Jeffrey Lee … who strangely disassociates himself from the story when all his “facts” turn out to be fiction.

But you’re right, edgy. Damn that Alabama and Nick Saban. They’ve cheated again. Gee, thanks for pointing out how they got someone else to do their dirty work.

searched high and low through the hills and vales of rural Alabama looking for a junior

gamustangdude says:Apr 13, 2011 5:42 PM

No news here. BTW I will never call a man Peaches regardless of the circumstances. The more and more I read about this story the more I believe Lee, was doing some “fishing” and came across something that wasn’t as shiny as he thought it was. Now instead of being the bigger man and retracting his statements he chooses the silent treatment. Lee, just say you were wrong and move on

Deb, are you off your meds? Nothing that you said had any real coherence other than to prove that you can dream up some wild scenario rather than talk about the issue. Again, I don’t see how you can believe for one moment that just because of A, B and C that this guy HAS to be clean. Anyone with half a brain KNOWS how to launder money AND anyone with half a brain and a business full of Tide supporters could get money to anyone without it ever coming back to him (Unless, he’s a MORON like the Fiesta Bowl CEO, who will get screwed by election laws for the stupid thing that he did).

gatorfan1 says:Apr 13, 2011 7:28 PM

@edgy:

You sound like you’re the second coming of Bernie Madoff!!

I hope with all your knowledge of money laundering and how easy you make it sound, PLEASE tell me you have millions stashed away somewhere in the Cayman Islands, Belize or the or the Bahamas…

And you made a post about ME and how I connect obscure dots….geesh!!!

@Deb:Very funny…I enjoyed that one.

You know sometimes things ARE what they seem.

Deb says:Apr 13, 2011 8:54 PM

So true, gamustangdude.

Thank you, gatorfan1!

Actually, edgy, I’ve been trying to maintain a sense of humor with a guy who has a stick up his backside and is DETERMINED to behave like a complete and total ass over something everyone else can see is petty and ridiculous. I’ve admitted AT LEAST two dozen times that our program isn’t perfect and we’re as capable of getting into trouble as any other, so I’m hardly playing homer blind girl. But as the GATOR fan and the GEORGIA fan and the LSU fans and the OHIO STATE guy who writes this site and most everyone else has pointed out, this is a bunch of silliness cooked up by fools and it’s actually pretty hilarious. Or it would be if you’d stop pissing on my parade.

As usual, you NEVER know when to stop. That post of mine just summed up your complete lunatic take on this subject and the only thing nonsensical about it (other than following your crackpot logic) was the dangling sentence fragment I forgot to delete.

Now since humor hasn’t worked, I’ll just have to be rude: Hammer on someone with more patience. I’m tired of you ruining everyone’s fun with your usual over-the-top GRUMPY rants. I’ve said repeatedly I’ll welcome an NCAA or SEC investigation. Now piss off.

southernpatriots says:Apr 14, 2011 4:13 AM

Deb: Thank you for the humorous narrative. It certainly represents the conspiracy thought processes of some who wish to have “pigs fly.” Does the NCAA have the staff and time to investigate all these kinds of things? If that was the case, maybe all rival fans or bloggers could create a scenario with some plausibility, but no facts, and which does not pass the smell test, and prompt new investigations on a daily basis. If one is the SEC and/or NCAA you just about have to investigate, but we are thankful we do not work for either one.

gatorfan1, seriously, do you even have a clue? I’m NOT saying something that is impossible to do NOR am I talking about something that hasn’t ever been done. Really, you do realize that there are guys out there that are using some of their most trusted employees to funnel contributions to their preferred candidates and skirting election laws (and not being a moron like the ex-Fiesta Bowl CEO). Of course, bringing up Madoff is pretty dumb because Madoff wasn’t doing anything even close to what we’re talking about AND genius, most of the billions of dollars that he scammed are — wait for it — STILL missing. Smart people know how to funnel money AND they don’t get caught. Even the FBI knows this and admits it. These fabled money trails that some of you concoct are nothing more than either sloppy and amateurish work on the part of the idiot that tried to get away with it (SMU) OR it was someone who paid back the person who didn’t keep their word (Reggie Bush, for example). It’s my belief that most of the paper trail on Cam Newton was shredded after they got to the SEC championship and whatever is left is being held by someone who wants to use this as a “Get out of jail” free card because of the investigation into an unrelated matter. If they don’t have to play the Cam Newton card, you can expect any remaining evidence and the possibility of sanctions against the Tigers to disappear in a burn bag.

BTW, I spent 9 1/2 years in the military and I know a lot of embarrassing info on several people who are high up in the Navy or civilian life but most of what I have to talk about is my word vs theirs because the evidence was shredded and burned 20 years ago. If you don’t think that a shredder and a burn bag can’t make your life easier then you don’t have a clue. If you don’t think that guys don’t funnel money through friends and relatives then again, you don’t have a clue (A moron leaves a money trail).